Containers for aerosols, gases and the like

ABSTRACT

An apparatus is provided for holding fluid material distinguished by being balanced in such a way that when placed on a horizontal surface its position will change depending upon whether the fluid contents exceed or fall below a pre-selected minimum.

United States Patent Lebel et al.

1451 Apr. 23, 1974 [5 CONTAINERS FOR AEROSOLS, GASES 1,269,051 6/1918Cheney 248/364 AND THE LIKE 2,784,577 3/1957 Beaham 248/364 3,054,5359/1962 Clarey 215/1 R 1 Inventors: Constantm Erwln Lebel, 107 1,659,3832/192s Thiene et 51.. 215/1 R Avenue de Saint-Quen, Paris, 2,793,7885/1957 Lysne 220/69 France 75017; Pierre Ilie Isidore 2,707,930 5/1955Miles 220/69 Karmitz, 95 Avenue Henri Martin, 3,533,229 10/1970Liljequist 73/57 L'X Paris France 75016 3,540,408 11/1970 Messick116/112 [22] Filed: Oct 6 1972 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 673,0876/1952 Great Britain 220/70 [21] Appl. No.: 295,524

Primary Examiner-William 1. Price 30 Foreign Application Priority DataAssistant ExaminerAllan w Dec. 2. 1971 France 71.43271 f g firm-Bud"Blenko Z1esenhe1m [52] US. Cl. 220/70, 116/114 R 1511 1m. 01. 865d 7/42,GOld 13/00 1 1 ABSTRACT {58] Field of Search 220/70, 69; 215/1 R; Anapparatus is provided for holding fluid material 116/118. 114 R, 114.5,114; 248/364, 346, 133 distinguished by being balanced in such a waythat when placed on a horizontal surface its position will [56]References Cited change depending upon whether the fluid contents ex-UNITED STATES PATENTS seed or fall below a pre-selected minimum.

3,100,054 8/1963 Rubens 215/1 R 12 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures rjJ,. .J lK 1 j 4 A f f l l j l f z j I 8 3 r IATENTEBAPR 23 I974 SHEET 2 [1F 2CONTAINERS FOR AEROSOLS, GASES AND THE LIKE This invention relates tocontainers for aerosols, gases and the like and particularly to acontainer for automatically indicating the approach of exhaustion of thecontents of the container.

Containers have in the past been provided for indicating the approximatecontents. However, these devices have depended upon some extraneousattachment for creating the indication of contents. Typical of thesepast devices are those of U.S. Pat. No. 2,575,1 l and French Pat. Nos.969,692 and 747,707.

There is an ever increasing use of containers such as bottles for gases,aerosols and other products (shaving foams, polishes, hair spray,scouring solutions, etc.). These containers, however, do not provide anyfacility for checking the quantity of the product which they stillcontain when some of it has been used. This often leads to the nuisancethat the user will find the container empty when the product is mostneeded.

The aim of the present invention is to remedy this state of things byproviding the user with some simple, sturdy, reliable and inexpensivemeans to be warned in time that there is only a small quantity of theproduct left in his container and time has come to refill his bottle orto have a new one.

For this purpose, according to the invention, the balance of thecontainer is arranged in such a manner that, if put on a fairlyhorizontal stand, its standing position will be different according towhether it does contain more than a given minimum quantity of theproduct or not. The container is preferably provided with a bearingsurface on which it can rest upright in stable equilibrium only so faras its content remains above a preselected minimum. This minimum can beadjusted for, particularly by means of a counterpoise.

In one practical execution, the bottom of the container is provided withan exterior cavity in which a counterweight is lodged. The latter can befastened in the said cavity by friction (jamming) or any other means,e.g. gluing.

A preferred shape for the cavity is one following basically the shape ofa segment of a circle with rounded angles, providing the space where tolodge counterweights of matching shape, the weight of which can beadjusted by varying their thickness or by contriving holes or notches ofadequate size in them.

In the foregoing specification we have set out certain objects, purposesand advantages of this invention. Other objects, purposes and advantagesof this invention will be apparent from a consideration of the followingdescription and the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic section of a substantially filled containeraccording to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic section as in FIG. 1 in which the container isshown nearly empty;

FIG. 3 is a second embodiment of the container according to theinvention;

FIG. 4 is a third embodiment of the container according to theinvention;

FIG. 5 is a fourth embodiment of the container according to theinvention;

FIG. 6 shows, in partial section the use of a base plate in conformitywith the invention together with a container of the usual type;

FIG. 7 is a partial schematic view of a container with adjustabletipping points;

FIG. 8 is the perspective view of the bottom of still anotheralternative implementing of a container in conformity with the presentinvention devoid of counterweights;

FIG. 9 is a view analogous to FIG. 8, but showing a counterweight inposition;

FIG. 10 is also a schematic view, in larger scale, also in perspective,showing various implementations of counterweights;

FIG. 11 is a plane view of a bottom, conforming to the invention, for acontainer with appended bottom; and

FIG. 12 is a section along XIIXII of FIG. 11.

In the embodiment illustrated by FIGS. 1 and 2, the lower part of acontainer 1 has the shape of a wide open dihedron, e.g. abt. ISO-.

The container is balanced in such a way that, as long as it contains aquantity of product greater than a given minimum value, it will rest instable equilibrium on surface 2 of the dihedron upon some, generallyhorizontal, platform, such as a table, a shelf, the floor, etc... asshown on FIG. 1. The surface 2 takes the major part of the base of thecontainer and can be at right angles to its main vertical axis, as isthe bottom of any ordinary container.

The word surface must be taken here in its broadest sense, so to meanany configuration of base (surfaces, lines or points) making it possibleto place the container on some stand.

As soon as the quantity of the product in the container reaches thechosen minimum value or drops below it, the container will tumble overround the edge 5 of the dihedron, if placed on the stand 3, and willcome to rest in stable equilibrium upon the other face 6 of thedihedron, as shown on FIG. 2.

The balancing of the container can be effected by various means. One cane.g. offset some accessories or details, such as a distributing head 7,weldings or bendings in either direction. One also can provide acounterweight 8 thoughtfully positioned e.g. in the lower part of thecontainer, or even combine these two methods. In this way, onetransforms the base of the container into a pair of scales, the point(or the points) of support of which are offset as compared to thecontainer, with a counterweight such as will cause the container to tipover as soon as the weight of the content resting upon the surface 2becomes smaller than the total sum of the weight resting upon face 6plus the weight of the counterweight.

The counterweight 8 can be fastened inside the container, below thecontainer or outside of it. It can be re movable and can consist e.g. inone or several magnets.

The balance of the container can be established in such a way that thepresence or absence of some accessory part, such as a cover or a capwill alter the minimum value of the content effecting the change in theposition of the container.

Also, instead of providing a position of stable balance on surface 6,one can arrange that the container falls over when the quantity of thecontained product drops below the minimum value.

Such is the case with the container shown, on FIG. 3, the face 16 ofwhich has the shape of a portion of a cylinder with horizontal axis;when the quantity of the product becomes sufficiently low, the containerwill fall, rolling on face 16.

In the version of FIG. 4, the face of stable bearing surface 22 joins totwo other bearing-faces, i.e. an intermediate face 26 forming a certainangle with it, e.g. l60l70 and another face 29, which can be plane orcurved and forms a wider angle to face 22.

The balancing can be effected in such a way that it enables to choosebetween two minimum values of the contained quantity of the product inthe container: one which will provide a position of stable balance uponthe face 6 and the other, smaller than the first one, which effectseither a resting on face 9, or the overturn.

In the version of FIG. 5, a container of the type shown on FIGS. 1 and 2is fitted at the upper end of face 6 with a small hinged paddle 14possibly of some garish color. As long as the container remainssufficiently filled, the paddle stands vertical, but once the containertends to rest on face 6, it will be pushed aside to the right andbecomes conspicuous to the user.

The invention can be applied to any sorts of containers, especially tonon transparent ones, where it is difficult or impossible to assess theamount of the content, e.g. of bottles for compressed or liquefiedgases, of aerosol bottles, of cans, drums, etc.

It can be applied to already existing containers to which one only hasto adapt, either permanently e.g. by welding, gluing, crimping,flanging, etc. or temporarily e.g. by encasing, attaching by magneticdevices, etc. a conveniently shaped base-plate, such as baseplate 35 ofFIG. 6, having plan supporting faces 32 and 36 and being fitted with aballast 38 which could consist in a magnet. Here the container 1 issimply encased into the base-plate.

On FIG. 7 the position of the tipping edge of the container isadjustable. For this purpose the container bears laterally teeth 45 and46, the teeth 45, the ones nearer to the center of the basis beinglonger than the teeth 46. Once the container has been sufficientlyemptied to be tipped around the teeth 45, one can break off these teeth,so to make the container rest upon the teeth 46.

In this case the container will tip over once the quantity of theproduct-content has dropped below a second minimum value, lower than thevalue which effected resting on the teeth 45.

The counterweight 48 can be outside the container.

One or several counterweights 47 can be provided e.g.

in form of magnets, enabling to adjust the minimum value by this furtherpossibility.

Instead of the teeth 45 and 46 one could provide bearing pointsimplemented in form of travellers, enabling to adjust the tipping edgeof the container.

In the example of execution shown on FIGS. 8 and 9, the container 1comprises a bottom having two bases or bearing faces, one normal 52,consisting in an arc ABC placed in a plane perpendicular to the axis ofthe container and extending over more than l80, and the other 56,consisting in an arc ADC placed in a sloping plane e.g. of compared tothe plane of the base 52. The bottom of the container is hollow andconvex toward the inside, which enables to satisfy the provisions forsafety.

In order to allow for the fitting of a counterweight 58 to thecontainer, the portion of the bottom corresponding to the base 56comprises a cavity 60 in shape of a segment of a circle with roundedangles. This cavity is fairly concentric to the bottom of the container.The lateral face 61 of the said cavity is sensibly perpendicular to itsbottom which permits the counterweight 58 to be jammed in by simpleelastic wedging (FIG. 9) provided that the dimensions of thecounterweight have been conveniently determined. One could, of course,wedge the counterweight by means of one or several blocks, or fasten itby any other means, such as e.g. gluing, welding, etc.

The counterweight shows a lateral surface the shape of which matches theone of the face 61 of the cavity. It can, on the other hand, be ofdimensions and of a configuration varying according to the bulk whichone has determined.

As shown by FIG. 10, in order to alleviate the counterweight, one can,at the opposite of the portion 62 of its lateral surface encasing intothe face 61 of the cavity, cut a more or less pronounced notch 63, whichthen will confer to it a shape of a bean or a shape of letter C.

On the FIGS. 11 and 12, the bottom 73 of the container is meant to beappended by crimping to the body (not shown) of the said container. Thisbottom comprises the two above mentioned bases of support 72 and 76 aswell as cavity in which one lodges the counterweight 78. This latter ishollowed by a large central notch 73 which confers to it a shape of C.

Our invention transforms, by modifications that have been made to itsbase, an opaque and closed container in a precision scale which showsvery accurately if the weight contained in the container at a certaintime is larger or smaller than a counterweight whose heaviness has beenpredetermined in advance. 7

It is obvious that alterations can be made in the methods of executiondescribed above, especially by substitution of equivalent technicalmeans without transgressing the frame of the present invention by doingso. Thus, while we have described several presently preferredembodiments of this invention in the foregoing specification, it will beunderstood that this invention may be otherwise embodied within thescope of the following claims.

We claim:

I. An apparatus for holding fluid materials comprising a container meanshaving a bottom defined by a first portion in the form of one flathorizontal plane and by a second portion diverging from said planegenerally along a line offset from the vertical axis of the containerincluding a counterweight positioned thereon, said line forming abalancing pivot line around which the container pivots by gravity whenthe level of fluid material in the container drops below a preselectedminimum amount whereby the container rests on said flat horizontal planewhen the fluid therein exceeds said preselected minimum amount androtates by gravity about said pivot line offset from the vertical axisof the container when the fluid therein falls below said preselectedminimum amount.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second portion is asecond plane angularly disposed to the first plane.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the second portion is aportion of a cylinder having a horizontal axis in shape whereby thecontainer pivots onto its side when the fluid contents fall below saidpreselected minimum.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the container carriesmeans for adjusting said preselected minimum amount.

5. An apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said means comprising atleast one counterweight movable on said container.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said bottom includes anexternal cavity wherein the counterweight can be lodged.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said cavity is contrived,at least for its major portion, outside the said first portion.

8. An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the cavity and thecounterweight have the shape of seg- 11. An apparatus according to claim6 wherein the counterweight can be fastened in the cavity by wedging.

12. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the said bottom comprisesa removable base-plate.

1. An apparatus for holding fluid materials comprising a container meanshaving a bottom defined by a first portion in the form of one flathorizontal plane and by a second portion diverging from said planegenerally along a line offset from the vertical axis of the containerincluding a counterweight positioned thereon, said line forming abalancing pivot line around which the container pivots by gravity whenthe level of fluid material in the container drops below a preselectedminimum amount whereby the container rests on said flat horizontal planewhen the fluid therein exceeds said preselected minimum amount androtates by gravity about said pivot line offset from the vertical axisof the container when the fluid therein falls below said preselectedminimum amount.
 2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein saidsecond portion is a second plane angularly disposed to the first plane.3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the second portion is aportion of a cylinder having a horizontal axis in shape whereby thecontainer pivots onto its side when the fluid contents fall below saidpreselected minimum.
 4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein thecontainer carries means for adjusting said preselected minimum amount.5. An apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said means comprising atleast one counterweight movable on said container.
 6. An apparatusaccording to claim 5 wherein said bottom includes an external cavitywherein the counterweight can be lodged.
 7. An apparatus according toclaim 6 wherein said cavity is contrived, at least for its majorportion, outside the said first portion.
 8. An apparatus according toclaim 6 wherein the cavity and the counterweight have the shape ofsegments of circles with rounded angles.
 9. An apparatus according toclaim 8, of circular shape, wherein the circular segment of the cavityis concentric with the wall of the container.
 10. An apparatus accordingto claim 5 wherein the counterweight comprises at least one hole forvariable positioning.
 11. An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein thecounterweight can be fastened in the cavity by wedging.
 12. An apparatusaccording to claim 1 wherein the said bottom comprises a removablebase-plate.